The Lost and the Forgotten
by Inky8Fingers
Summary: A phone call in the early hours of the morning brings Detective Nick Burkhardt to the bedside of a ghost from his past. This is the story of a lost girl, finding her way home. Please R&R :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Hi! This is my first story for a really long time so I might be a little rusty... I have the next couple of chapters written and waiting to go if there's anyone out there kind enough to read my work! If there any mistakes, please feel free to either leave me a comment or message me, but please try and make you criticism constructive... My ego is a little fragile these days! **

**This is set somewhere around series 3, I'm not too sure when yet, But Juliette is in on the secret by now. If there any spoilers in the future i'll make sure to give people a heads up.**

**Just a quick warning, this chapter isn't too bad, though does have some domestic violence themes in it, but future chapters will have some pretty hefty trigger warnings on them, hence why I have rated this fic M, so be warned! **

**Disclaimer: I would say I own no characters except my OC, but she is a strong independent woman who don't need no man. But yeah, I wrote her, No one else :) **

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><p>"Nick... Nick honey your phone is ringing..." Juliette sleepily dropped Nick's phone onto his chest and rolled away from him, burying her face in her pillow. It was 4 am, and though throwing the phone out of the window could quite possibly loose him his job, Nick took a moment to seriously consider it before balancing the phone on the side of his face with a sigh.<p>

"Detective Burkhardt." He scrunched his eyes together and groaned his way into a stretch as he pushed himself into a seated position, his beck against the head rest. One heavy fist raised to rub at his eyes but stopped short. Nick's eyes snapped open and he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Standing up sharply he had to take a second for his balance to settle before jamming the phone between his shoulder and his ear to pick his pants up from the floor where he'd left them the night before and wrestle his way into them.

"You found her? Where? The hospital...? But- Never mind, I'm on my way. Don't let anyone in that room." He tucked the phone in the back pocket off his pants and grabbed a clean shirt from the chest of drawers. He was just pulling his boots on when a pair of pale legs appeared in his eye line and with a tired smile he sat up and pulled Juliette down onto his lap.

"You should go back to sleep, I have to go down town. It's nothing to worry about I promise." With careful, gentle fingers he pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear and lent in to place a soft tender kiss on the bare skin it had hidden.

"What did you mean "Found her?" who's her?" Juliette asked, sleep still slurring her words slightly, her eyes half closed against the soft light of Nick's small bedside lamp. The way his eyes dropped to the floor before coming back up to hers with a delayed smile told her all she needed to know; whatever Nick was about to tell her, was not the truth, so she lay a slender hand over his lips and shook her head. The smile she gave him was a little sad though she understood that even though she knew more now, there were still things he wasn't ready to share.

"I'd rather know nothing if it isn't the truth." The air Nick had sucked in to fob her off with a story about an old case escaped in a puff and he gave her a genuine smile, all charming teeth and dimples.

"Sorry, I know, but like I said nothing to worry about. I'll probably be back before you even wake up." In one deft movement he slid an arm under her knees and lifted her gently off of his lap and lay her back down on the bed, pulling the duvet up over her shoulders. Placing one last kiss on her forehead, he grabbed his keys and his jacket and swept out of the room.

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Nick was leaning against the door frame of a private room on a quiet, sleepy ward when a nurse gently pushed her way past him into the room, smiling in silent apology to him as she took the temperature of her patient with quick, practiced movements and followed the girl's pulse against the tick of her watch. She placed the tiny pale arm carefully back on the bed and turned to Nick,making a time old shooing gesture as she bustled him out of the door and closed it behind her. She lent up against the nurses station and bean to scribble away at a clip chart.

"You must be Nick. I'm Sister Anna Harding, the ward sister tonight. The attending Doctor has had to attend an emergency, but I'm sure I can fill you in." She had spoken to him without looking up until this point, but now she turned to face him and smiled tiredly. Nick took in the dark circles under her eyes and the way she reached up with slightly shaking fingers to smooth her thick blonde curls back away from her face. She must be getting close to the end of a very long shift.

"We have you down as her next of kin on file, but I just wanted to fill in a few gaps. May I ask what relation you are to Miss...-" She lifted the chart up to her eyes for a quick glance and looked back up with shake of her head. "Burkhardt. Sorry, it's been a long shift, I didn't even register that you share a surname. So sister? Cousin?... Wife?" She raised an eyebrow at him, her pen hovering over the page.

It was a moment before Nick replied, he was looking over her shoulder at the tiny form engulfed by the bed and it's snowy white sheets. She looked barely old enough to be out on her own, let alone be his wife, she was so slight. He pushed one hand into his pocket and lifted the other one to the back of his neck in discomfort.

"She's my sister." He replied simply, and realising he was standing like a guilty school boy let his hand drop and bury itself in the other pocket.

"But I haven't seen her in very long time, and she was just a little girl then... She's still little... just a grown up now. She would have been 19 about a month ago... What happened? Why is she here? I saw the bruises..." His hands clenched inside his pockets and he looked down again, trying to get himself back under control. Sister Harding sighed and shook her head, placing the chart back on the desk and turning to face him completely.

"I see cases like this all the time... She's jumpy, paranoid... the bruises on her arms look like someone has grabbed her. Hard. I'm sorry to say it, detective, but this is domestic abuse, without a doubt." She gave Nick a second to process this information, knowing how hard it must be for him before picking the chart back up to give him the details.

"She was struck repeatedly across the face, and judging by the grazing on her jaw, whoever did it was wearing a ring. One of her ribs is cracked, two more are just bruised. Her arm is not broken, but she came close, it will be very tender for a while, she'll need to keep it strapped up for a week or so, just to let it heal properly and to stop her from bumping it around to much" She looked up from the chart and placed a hand on Nick's arm, feeling it tense sharply.

"Detective, you need to take a deep breath, and calm down. Your sister needs you now, and you won't be able to help her if you do something rash. Now, if you feel able to proceed...?" Nick did as he was told, taking a few deep, calculated breaths and unfurling his fists. He knew she was right, revenge doesn't always work out so well.

"Sorry, it's a lot to take in. When Can I take her home?" He squeezed the keys in his pocket, pushing back the urge to just grab his sister and make a run for it. He wasn't sure why, the nurse seemed perfectly nice, and the hospital was as safe a place as any, but he just wanted to gather her up and hold her.

"As soon as she's awake you'll have to fill in some discharge papers, but other than that she's ready to go. The doctor saw her as soon as she came in a few hours ago and-" Nick put a hand on her arm, stopping her mid sentence, his brow furrowed.

"How did she get here? Did she admit herself." Again, the nurse shook her head and sighed, slipping her pen into her breast pocket and putting the chart in the tray on the nurses station.

"No, Detective. They very rarely check themselves in. She was... deposited, near the entrance to A&E. You are welcome to any CCTV footage we have, if she decides to press charges." And with that sister Harding was off, tiredly making her way to the next patient.

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><p><strong>So there you have it! Chapter number 1 is up. Please tell me what you think, I love feedback. <strong>

**Like I said before, the next couple of chapters are written, and hopefully they will get better as I find my way back into the swing of things. So tell me if you want more :) **

**Thank you very much!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the long delay, I've got a couple of other stories i'm working on and SOOOO much uni work to get finished, but here's another chapter for you! **

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><p>The rude awakening had taken it's toll on Nick, who was ungracefully passed out in the obscenely uncomfortable chair that had been provided for him beside his sister's bed. His pale lips hung open, and a particularly attractive glob of spit dangled all the way from his bottom lip to the from of his maroon shirt, leaving a damp patch, while his usually well maintained rugged stubble had reached a slightly less controlled and more shabby stage. But at some point in the brief moments of stolen sleep, one of his strong, calloused hands had tangled itself firmly with the tiny, pale fingers of hers. So it was with slight panic that she opened big grey eyes and tugged helplessly at his hand, trying to free her own. By carefully prying each of his fingers open individually, using the arm that was most certainly supposed to be strapped to her body in a sling, she managed to slide her hand free and clutch it protectively to her chest.<p>

As if she was edging away from a terrible beast, the girl slid carefully out from under the covers, exposing legs equally as pale and thin as her bruised arms, and slithered onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed to Nick, peeking across at him. Slowly, keeping her eyes on him, she slid her hand into the backpack beside her and pulled out a small, intricately engraved knife. It looked old and there was what appeared to be old blood crusted around the handle. She flexed her fingers around the knife and pulled herself back up onto the bed, minding not to jostle her injured arm and crawled across to him. With slow, careful movements she lowered herself to balance on the arms of the chair, and looming over him she pressed the blade against his neck.

"Who are you?" She said quietly, her face down next to his ear.

It was to the feeling of cold steel on his neck and the smell of jasmine shampoo that Nick woke, jolting slightly and feeling the knife press harder against his throat. It took him a moment to comprehend his situation, but the empty bed visible over the shoulder of his attacker told him enough.

"Liesl stop! It's me!" He whispered harshly, aware of the nurses bustling about just behind the closed blinds. The knife at his neck seemed to falter slightly, as if in recognition, but clearly it wasn't enough to stop her because before he could take advantage of the moment the knife was back, harder than before.

"I know you, how do I know you?" Though the pressure on the knife at his throat didn't change, she pulled back enough to scan his face, her eyes desperately taking in every detail. His eyes were the same as hers, that deep soulful grey, almost blue, and his hair too, that rich darkest brown, just like hers. Then she saw the scar. It was nothing, the tiniest little white line at the outside corner of his eye. Her brother had that scar! She was just a little girl when it happened, probably no more that 8, they'd been play fighting when she'd accidentally scratched him, just one of those superficial wounds that shouldn't have scared but did.

Hesitantly she pulled the knife away, keeping it raised in case she changed her mind about him, and slowly clambered down from the arms of the chair with a wince, clutching her bad arm across her tender ribs. Without thinking Nick put a hand out to steady her, but she didn't flinch away, just let him help her sit back on the bed.

"...Nicki...?" She whispered, dropping the knife onto the blankets beside her and lifting her hand to his face. Her fingers stopped short of his cheek, hovering as if uncertain he was really there.

Nick let out the breath of air he didn't realise he was holding in and smiled in relief, surreptitiously pushing the knife out of her reach before gently reaching up to rest his hand over hers and place them both on his cheek.

As soon as her fingertips finally connected with his face she threw her arms around his neck and nestled her face in the gap between his shoulder and his neck, unashamedly sobbing.

"Oh Liesl where have you been? I've been looking for you since you ran away! It's been so long..." Nick murmured softly as he buried his face in her hair, wrapping his arms around her in return and pulling her up to rest in his lap, curled within the protective curve of his body. She was so thin and frail... Part of him was worried that if he squeezed her any tighter her bones would just snap. Nick could feel his temper flaring again, and reminded himself to get a grip.

_Who would do this... who could treat her so awfully?_ He thought, his grip on Liesl never loosening, because at least while she was there he couldn't go and tear apart whoever did this to her.

It was a nurse who eventually had to separate them more than hour after their initial reunion in order to give Liesl a final check over and for nick to sign the paperwork. When he returned to her room the nurse was easing a heavy knitted navy blue cardigan over Liesl's bad arm and buttoning up the front. With a little pat on the girl's overly prominent hips the nurse turned and smiled at Nick as he entered.

"This young lady needs some serious fattening up, get some meat on those bones!" She said kindly, turning back to Liesl and patting her on the cheek in a no nonsense motherly fashion. Liesl smiled shyly and pulled the sleeve of her top over her hand in a shockingly childish show of nerves. Nick frowned, his sister had always been on the small side, but never shy. The girl with knife was closer to the Liesl he remembered... He shook off the feeling and smiled at her, bending to pick up her rucksack.

"Come on, let's get out of here, I can't wait to introduce you to Juliette!" He extended his hand towards her, and pulled her close, slinging the arm not holding her bag around her shoulder. His big hand could have easily closed around her upper arm, which he rubbed gently as they walked through the hospital, aware of the cold draft and her lack of a coat.

"Who's Juliette?" She asked conversationally as he helped her up into his truck, slapping his hand away as he began to faff around her seat belt.

"I'm fine, Nicki, I can do it myself." She said, trying not to let him see her struggling with the clip. She hated being fussed over, she was not some child who constantly needed babying. Nick threw his hands up in surrender and with a raised eyebrow made his way round to the drivers side.

"Juliette is my girlfriend, I met her around about the same time you first ran off, about 4 years ago, we've been living together for three now. And let me tell you, she is amazing, I can't wait for you two to meet." He revved up the engine and set out, keeping his eyes on the road as he spoke.

"But she'll probably be at work by the time we get back, so it'll give us some time to talk... and we really do need to talk, Liesl..." He glanced over at her for a second before looking back at the road and sighed. She was practically cowering, hunched over in the corner of her seat, gazing out of the window. What had done this to her? She was always so head strong and confident! The nurse had said it was domestic violence, that she was certain, and he agreed. He was a cop, he'd seen his fair share of beaten women, but never expected it to be his kid sister on the other end, who'd bitten a chunk out of a kids leg when she was at elementary school because he'd pulled her hair. He wanted to say more, try and get her talking about it, but he guessed it was best to wait until he got her inside in the warm... where she couldn't run.

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><p><strong>Thank you very much for reading! I have the next chapter ready and waiting if people want it. It is very... graphic. Liesl has had a pretty shitty life, I didn't realise quite how bad I made it until I typed it up yesterday, so it will come with some pretty hefty trigger warnings. <strong>

**If you have a moment please drop me a review! Thank you very much. **


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